On July 9th, former MOTÖRHEAD guitarist Michael "Würzel" Burston passed away in the UK. He was aged 61.

Motörhead drummer Mikkey Dee spoke to Sweden's Expressen newspaper about Würzel's passing, stating: "He wrote damn good Motörhead riffs. I remember that I missed that when he was not there. I missed the simple classic Motörhead riffs. They were never written after that. They left with him."

Describing Würzel, Dee continues, "He was wonderful, he was really funny. There was a lot of rock and roll in the old man."

Read more at this location.

Meanwhile, STV Entertainment reports: Motörhead have paid tribute to former guitarist Michael 'Würzel' Burston who has died aged 61. On the main stage of the Sonisphere festival on Sunday (July 10th), the band said: "We'd like to dedicate this set and our lives to Würzel."

Read more here.

Check out fan-filmed video footage of Motörhead at Sonisphere below:

Motörhead previously issued a statement on the passing of their former bandmate. A spokesperson for the band told RockAAA their thoughts were with their former guitarists family at this difficult time:

“It was actually Lemmy who gave Würzel his name in the back of a taxi, as he thought he looked like the TV character Worzel Gummidge because of his wild hair.”

The spokesperson went on to explain Würzel’s wife had said he had been unwell for some time with heart trouble, which left him struggling to climb the stairs at home.

As a tribute to their fallen friend, who they described as one of the nicest men, the band requested Rock Radio play ‘Killed By Death’ in tribute, as it was a track co-written by Lemmy and Würzel during a taxi journey from the flat they were sharing at the time and the Brittania Studios.

According to Wikipedia, before joining Motörhead in 1984, Burston had been a corporal in the Army, serving in Germany and Ireland with the 1st Battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment, and had played in the bands BASTARD and WARFARE. Joining another relatively unknown guitarist, Phil Campbell, they played together at a Motörhead audition, and both were taken on. Würzel eventually left the band in 1995 and can be heard on the following albums:

No Remorse (1984)

Orgasmatron (1986)

Rock 'n' Roll (1987)

Nö Sleep at All (1988)

The Birthday Party (1990)

1916 (1991)

March ör Die (1992)

Bastards (1993)

Sacrifice (1995)

More recently, Würzel had launched a new band called LEADER OF THE DOWN, who headlined the main stage at Never Mind The Bullocks!, a fundraising music festival in aid of Midlands Air Ambulance in late June.

Würzel joined Motörhead for the classic 'Ace Of Spades' at the Hammersmith Apollo on November 28, 2009. Check out footage below: